Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Muzzleloader Hunting => Topic started by: Jburke on July 23, 2011, 10:56:14 AM
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Does anyone use a full charge of 150 grains anymore? Just curious. I have a friend that swears by the theory of more is better. Yes it gives more push behind it, but at muzzle loader ranges I'm thinking that 100 grains is more than enough to kill. What are your guys thoughts?
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There is some guys on here that do. I have never had luck using that much powder. I match the bullet with the powder charge. My guns like 120g loose with the Tmz.
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I'm new to muzzle loading but I'm liking it so far. I'm shooting the same bullet's, just the EZ's. The tmz's are too tight in my Black diamond. They shoot great and I originally was going to go with 100 grains of pyrodex pellets but I was shooting 150 yesterday to see how it shoots. Got great groups at 50 yards with it but it packs a bigger punch to the shoulder than 100 grains. Just not sure if it's really that much better or not. I'll have to do some more shooting to see which is best. I can see the benefit of 150 grains if your shooting longer ranges but it's still a muzzle loader. The farthest I've ever shot a deer was something around 170 yards in a wheat field. Most of them have been less than 100 though.
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I think 150 is too much for the barrel length's we are using. Powder only powers the projectile if it burns in the barrel. Try laying a white sheet or cardboard out in front of the muzzle and shoot 150gr look at the cardboard see if there is any unburnt powder on it. I would think there will be, then do the same with 100gr and see if there is a difference.
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All you gain with that much powder is more recoil. Not only that, but powder is expensive, and you're just burning it up for no reason. I never use more than 110, and that's in a 54 caliber. In a 50 caliber I wouldn't go over 100.
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And this is why I love this site. Believe me the extra recoil is noticable too. If it isn't gaining me anything besides more recoil then I'm not going to continue to shoot 150. I think next year I'll switch to loose. It sounds like most people like the loose better. I just figure that since I'm pretty new to muzzle loading I want to keep it simple for now until I get things figured out a bit more. They are easy and since my dad is doing it this year I don't want to complicate things by trying to show someone else what to use if I don't know what I'm doing myslef. :chuckle:
